Back-to-Back Levee Breaches Flood Cities Across China’s Henan Province

Two levee breaches in China’s central Henan Province have flooded communities and forced nearly 3,000 people to evacuate following days of torrential downpours linked to the remnants of Tropical Storm Dolphin. The first occurred on Aug. 12 along the Beiru River in Jia County, followed by another breach a day later along the Jialu River in Zhoukou.

According to state-run Xinhua News Agency, the eastern embankment beneath the Xinbeihuan Bridge in Zhoukou’s Chuanhui District breached at around 11 p.m. on Aug. 13, opening a gap approximately 30 meters (98 feet) wide. Authorities said rising water from upstream along the Jialu River, compounded by backflow from the Shaying River, placed heavy pressure on the embankment before it gave way.

Authorities evacuated 781 people and reported no casualties. Emergency crews worked from both sides of the breach, using shipping containers to stabilize the embankment while filling the opening with rock to prevent further flooding from moving inland.

RELATED: Torrential Rains Swamp Shanghai, Flooding Homes and Businesses Across the City

Hospitals inundated

Videos circulating on Chinese social media showed extensive flooding across parts of Zhoukou, with water reportedly reaching depths of up to 1.5 meters (nearly 5 feet) in some areas. Footage appeared to show floodwater surrounding Zhoukou Vocational and Technical College and Zhoukou Fifth People’s Hospital. The extent of damage to the facilities was not immediately clear.

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The flooding prompted questions online about the condition and maintenance of the city’s flood-control infrastructure. “If one extreme weather event can turn a 30-meter section of embankment into an opening for floodwaters, then the real question isn’t ‘Why was the rain so heavy?’” one social media user questioned, adding, “What standards was this embankment built to? Was it routinely maintained? Were warnings and emergency measures adequate?”

The Zhoukou incident followed another levee failure roughly a day earlier in Jia County, administered by the city of Pingdingshan. On the evening of Aug. 12, a locally built embankment along the Beiru River in Changqiao Township breached after extreme rainfall and high-volume discharges from an upstream reservoir, according to Xinhua.

The breach widened to more than 40 meters (131 feet), prompting authorities to evacuate 2,182 residents. Social media footage showed homes and roads inundated, vehicles partially submerged, and large stretches of farmland underwater. Videos also showed fields of corn and watermelon crops covered by muddy floodwater, raising concerns about the scale of agricultural losses.

500-year-old bridge collapses

The extreme weather also damaged a historic bridge in Jia County. The Beijing News reported that a nearly 500-year-old, seven-arch stone bridge in Zhongtou Township partially collapsed at around 11:40 p.m. on Aug. 12 after days of rainfall and rapidly rising river levels repeatedly battered the structure.

RELATED: Typhoon Dolphin Remnants Drench Half of China, Triggering Severe Flooding

A township official said routine inspections had not previously detected missing stones or cracks. Two of the bridge’s central arches subsequently collapsed after sustained flooding battered the structure.

Elsewhere in Henan, video from Yuzhou in Xuchang showed floodwaters bursting through an exterior wall of an underground parking garage on Aug. 12. Two property-management employees working inside reportedly escaped after noticing the wall beginning to fail.

Dolphin, which was first categorized as a typhoon, made two landfalls in neighboring Zhejiang Province on Aug. 9 before weakening. However, its remnants continued carrying heavy moisture farther inland.